Labour’s Deputy Willie Penrose has presented a petition containing the signatures of almost 5,000 supporters of Mulllingar Hospital to Health Minister Mary Harney.
The signatures were collected by a number of businesses, shops, and individuals as a supporting initiative in aid of the recent protest march, held in Mullingar last Saturday. The march was organised to call for support for the maintenance and retention of services at the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar.
Deputy Penrose said: “I want to sincerely thank the businesses in and around Mullingar, and members of the community who on their own initiative, and indeed as a complement to the march, launched petitions which called upon the Government and the HSE to take steps to maintain and enhance the facilities and services at the Midland Regional Hospital.
“I also noted that Minister Harney will be visiting the hospital next Monday, June 21, and I asked her to acknowledge in a clear and unequivocal fashion, that the hospital is the most efficient in the country in terms of the case mix adjustment and independent auditing.”
Deputy Penrose is calling on the Minister to ensure that there would be no attempt in any way to downgrade the hospital; that 24-hour A&E cover be maintained; that the existing important services and facilities would be maintained and improved; and that this important hospital would be provided with its fair and appropriate share of resources, including staff and money, so as to enable some of the acute beds closed in November 2009, to be reopened.
